Genetic Engineering News and Research

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Bugs in yoghurt may stop the spread of AIDS

Scientists have found that some of the 'friendly bacteria' found in yoghurt can be genetically modified to release a drug that blocks HIV infection.

18 Jan 2006

Genetic risk factor for West Nile virus infection identified

People who lack a cell surface protein called CCR5 are highly resistant to infection by HIV but may be at increased risk of developing West Nile virus (WNV) illness when exposed to the mosquito-borne virus, report researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

18 Jan 2006

Single gene may hold key to schizophrenia

By deleting a single gene in a small portion of the brains of mice, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center found that the animals were affected in a way resembling schizophrenia in humans.

18 Jan 2006

Tobacco plant-derived vaccines safeguard against Yersinia pestis

Through an innovative feat of plant biotechnology and vaccine design, researchers in the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have successfully turned tobacco plants into vaccine production factories to combat the deadliest form

10 Jan 2006

rhTSH combined with radiation therapy successfully destroys remaining thyroid tissue

A multicenter international study, including Johns Hopkins, has found that after surgery for thyroid cancer, giving genetically engineered human thyroid-stimulating hormone (rhTSH) before radioiodine treatment avoids the previous need to stop thyroid replacement therapy and the miserable side effects that go with it.

9 Jan 2006

Scientists develop prototype drug to prevent osteoporosis based on cannabinoids produced by body

Substances produced in the body that act like those found in the cannabis plant help preserve bone density, according to researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

6 Jan 2006

p11 gene may play a key role in depression

For the more than 18 million Americans who suffer from depressive illnesses, the best pharmacological treatments are those that increase levels of serotonin, the brain chemical that regulates mood, sleep and memory.

5 Jan 2006

University of Michigan Medical School to study the science of obesity and metabolism

As millions of Americans prepare their New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, eat better or exercise more, the University of Michigan Medical School is launching a new center that may help explain why so many resolutions fail, while others succeed.

29 Dec 2005

Discovery reveals how malaria infects humans

Researchers at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in India and a unit of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in France have made a key discovery about a molecule that helps the malaria parasite infect human cells.

22 Dec 2005

Brain cell activity influences formation of brain plaque ingredient

Increased communication between brain cells increases levels of amyloid beta, the key ingredient in Alzheimer's brain plaques, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.

22 Dec 2005

Study finds light sensing cells develop before vision

Investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that cells making up a non-visual system in the eye are in place and functioning long before the rods and cones that process light into vision.

22 Dec 2005

Robotic microbial protein analysis

Microorganisms have potential as living factories for manufacturing drugs and biochemical products. Rapid mass screening methods are needed to identify new species. A new robotic system also provides useful data for genetic engineering.

15 Dec 2005

Stem cells provide new way to sneak drugs into brain

One of the great challenges for treating Parkinson's diseases and other neurodegenerative disorders is getting medicine to the right place in the brain.

15 Dec 2005

$Bone quality regulator identified - possible target for preventing and treating bone fractures$

Bone quality regulator identified - possible target for preventing and treating bone fractures

University of California - San Francisco (UCSF) scientists have determined that the quality of bone matrix, a key component of bone, is regulated by a molecule known as transforming growth factor beta.

13 Dec 2005

Understanding obesity in humans

A new study by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center suggests that when fat cells increase in size - as they do during the development of obesity - the cells progressively lose receptors for the hormone leptin, a powerful stimulus for fat burning.

7 Dec 2005

Iron-biofortified rice improves the iron stores of nonanemic Filipino women

For the past decade, plant breeders have been trying to boost the vitamin and mineral content of rice and other staples through traditional plant breeding and genetic engineering. But the foods have never been tested to see if they actually improve the health of the people who eat them.

5 Dec 2005

Bacterial DNA and IVF contamination risk on New Scientist

Some children conceived by a common method of IVF could be carrying chunks of bacterial DNA in their chromosomes, according to a study in mice. The researchers who conducted the work say that such accidental genetic modification would be very rare, but they argue that fertility doctors should take more precautions to exclude it.

30 Nov 2005

Potential drug target for malaria

Researchers have identified an enzyme crucial to the malaria parasite's invasion of red blood cells, according to a study in the open-access journal, PLoS Pathogens.

26 Nov 2005

Thrombospondin (TSP-1) can cause kidney failure when normal blood flow is disrupted

Scientists led by a University of Cincinnati (UC) kidney expert have found that a naturally occurring protein that normally fights cancer cells can also cause severe kidney failure when normal blood flow is disrupted.

26 Nov 2005

Sperm stem cells research provides exciting findings

New experiments that prevented rat sperm stem cells from changing permanently into sperm have brought researchers one step closer to coaxing such cells to behave like embryonic stem cells, capable of growing into many other types of cells in the body.

20 Nov 2005